A monument to honour Scunthorpe's past, present and future steelworkers and recognise the town's steel heritage has been officially unveiled.

The sculpture, in the town centre, depicts a male and female steelworker in 1940s period clothing walking away from the works, possibly after finishing a shift.

It also includes a bicycle and stands proudly on a stone plinth which features a reproduction period lamp-post.

The sculpture has been seven years in the planning and the project has been led by the Scunthorpe Steeltown team, which worked tirelessly to raise almost £50,000 needed to make it a reality.

Sited near the Oldrids department store, the steel sculpture was designed and built by artist Ray Lonsdale and was unveiled by Scunthorpe MP Nic Dakin at a ceremony this afternoon.

The Scunthorpe Steelworkers Sculpture, which has been unveiled in the town centre (Image: David Haber/Scunthorpe Live)

Project manager Adrian Holmes said: "It is the culmination of a lot of hard work to see it through.

"We nearly gave up at one stage but we got there in the end.

"it is not the sort of thing you can go through just with cash collections, so getting the funding was the major part of it."

Funding worth around £48,000 was secured by the group to ensure the project could go ahead, with money coming from organisations including the SSE Sustainable Development Fund, Arts Council England, Clugston Construction and Unite the Union.

Mr Holmes said: "We also ran a play called Women of Steel and the proceeds of that went towards this.

The Scunthorpe Steeltown Team was formed to promote, commemorate and celebrate the culture and heritage of those connected with the town's steel industry, past and present. It was founded by chairman and former mayor of Scunthorpe Jim Pearson.

Today's ceremony saw Councillor John Briggs, the mayor of North Lincolnshire, accept the sculpture from the Steeltown Team on behalf of the people of the area.

Others in attendance included Councillor Len Foster, the leader of the opposition Labour group on North Lincolnshire Council, and Martin Foster from Unite the Union.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Dakin said: "It is worth reflecting that everywhere in the world is about place and people.

"This place, Scunthorpe, has been created by people that have lived here for generations and their families.

"It is 160 years since ironstone was rediscovered in this area in 1858 and it was the discovery of that ironstone which was the start of the motor for the creation of this industry of steel which this town has been built on.

Scunthorpe MP Nic Dakin spoke at the ceremony to unveil the Scunthorpe Steelworkers Sculpture in the town centre (Image: Scunthorpe Live)

"This is called an industrial garden town and it was mainly garden 160 years ago. The industrial bit came from that discovery of iron ore and as a result, 100 years ago next year, those five villages of Ashby, Brumby, Crosby, Frodingham and Scunthorpe came together to form Scunthorpe."

Mr Briggs said it was "a great privilege" to accept the sculpture on behalf of the people of Scunthorpe and North Lincolnshire.

He said: "I think it's absolutely tremendous.

"Let's wish the steel industry every success for the future in Scunthorpe, and every other industry that wants to operate here. It's a great place."